Yahoo Lifestyle These Portable Machines Will Keep Your Carpets and Upholstery Stain-Free
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These Portable Machines Will Keep Your Carpets and Upholstery Stain-Free
This story was updated in January 2023 to ensure all recommendations vetted and tested by the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab were both current and in stock.
Food spills, pet messes and dirt stains from normal wear and tear can make carpeting, upholstery, even the interior of your car look dirty and worn. While you could go to work with a carpet stain remover spray and a cloth, a corded or cordless portable carpet cleaner can suck up wet spills better than a cloth and powers through stains often better than you can by hand, and they're nimble and easier to use than a full-sized carpet cleaner.
When the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab evaluates portable carpet cleaning machines, we test how well they lift fresh and set-in food, dirt and other stains and how easy they are to fill, empty, clean and store. We also assess their weight, how easy they are to maneuver and how comfortable they are to use and hold. Finally, we have each tested and scored by Quiet Mark, an outside organization that evaluates products and appliances for sound on a scale of 1 to 3 stars — “quiet” appliances get a 3-star rating, while those deemed “loud” get a 1-star rating. In our last category test of portable carpet cleaners, we conducted 38 separate tests and assessed nearly 500 data points!
Our top picks:
As you read through this guide, you'll learn more about each of our recommended portable carpet cleaners, how we test them, what features you should look for, what to consider when buying a portable carpet cleaner and why Good Housekeeping's recommendations are so trustworthy.
amazon - 2/9
1) Pet Stain Eraser PowerBrush Plus
Bissell
amazon.com
$133.89
This little cordless carpet cleaning champ is among the best Bissell vacuum cleaners we've tested. In our test, this model earned the best overall score for performance, which took into account stain and odor removal, sound, run time and more. It removed fresh and dried red wine and blueberry pie filling stains and the machine was easy to clean and maintain. Its built-in rotating brush has deep-cleaning power, but it can be switched off when cleaning delicate fabrics, like woven rugs and velvet. It also comes with a nubby rubber pet tool to tackle pet messes.
You'll get 20 minutes of running time, though it does take four and one half hours to recharge the battery, so the number of stains you can tackle on one charge may be limited. And like on many portable carpet cleaners, the eight-ounce tanks are small and could require more frequent refilling than models with larger tanks. Testers loved how easy it was to reach and use the thumb controls. Bissell recommends using its own ready-to-use formula, which we think is worth it because the formula doesn't require diluting and can be stored in the machine for multiple uses.
Bissell - 3/9
2) PowerDash GO Pet + Spot Cleaner
Hoover
amazon.com
$79.95
Easy to carry and store, this corded portable cleaner comes with an array of helpful features for a model at this price point. A five-foot hose makes it easy to pick up spills in awkward places such as behind the sofa or in the car, and we found that the pet attachment efficiently tackled set-in and embedded stains.
This Hoover got top marks for ease of use, too: The cord wraps at the back, the hose clips to it neatly and its slim design makes it convenient to carry and use on stairs. The tanks, though a bit small, stand on their own, delighting our tester who raved, "they are super easy to fill without any spilling." Take note: Hoover requires using its own pre-mixed solution or risk voiding the warranty. It’s not the quietest nor the loudest machine: Quiet Mark rated it 2 stars.
Hoover - 4/9
3) Pet Portable Spot Cleaner
Rug Doctor
amazon.com
$156.50
This Rug Doctor is a workhorse that powered through our stain tests and did the best job of nixing both the stain and the odor of the yellow ammonia we put down to simulate pet urine. The tradeoff: It's loud, earning a 1-star rating from Quiet Mark. In our tests, the nozzle’s rubberized bristles even grabbed pet hair while removing stains.
The large tanks on Rug Doctor’s corded model hold 64 ounces of cleaning solution, meaning less refilling through big or multiple jobs. Adding the cleaning solution to hot water in the solution tank is a little tricky as the tank does not stand on its own and can be heavy when full, so be sure to balance it well on a flat surface. Thankfully, its wheels and a carrying handle helped make it easy to maneuver and move from one area to the next.
Rug Doctor - 5/9
4) SpotClean Pet Pro Portable Carpet Cleaner
Bissell
amazon.com
$155.09
Bissell’s SpotClean Pet Pro’s four-foot hose, extra-long power cord, plus large tank capacities make it useful for bigger cleaning jobs, especially in harder-to-reach places. We especially liked the special “stain trapper” tool that keeps nasty pet messes from reaching the hose or dirty water tank where they can settle and cause odors. In our tests, it was second only to the Rug Doctor in overall stain removal, and was excellent at removing the odor of yellow ammonia that we put down on carpets to simulate pet urine.
Keep in mind that there's an extra step required here: The cleaning formula must be diluted before use, so it lasts longer. Because the tanks are large, we found it heavier to carry than smaller models, especially when the tanks are full and it received a "loud" rating in our sound tests.
Bissell - 6/9
5) Spillbuster Cordless Spill + Spot Cleaner
BLACK+DECKER
amazon.com
$99.98
Weighing in at only about five pounds, this cordless Black+Decker’s wide mouth and powered rotating brush deals with wet messes like juice, oatmeal or chunky soup. Unlike many others, it can use any brand of portable machine cleaning solution. With a run time of 30 minutes per two and a half hour charge and a tank and nozzle that are top-rack dishwasher-safe, we found the Black + Decker very easy to maintain. It was second only to the Rug Doctor in lifting mustard stains and an indicator signals when it needs recharging. Like other compact models, the tanks are small and need frequent filling and emptying when used for multiple cleaning tasks. It was also deemed "loud" in our sound testing.
Black+Decker - 7/9
6) Little Green Machine
Bissell
amazon.com
$123.59
The Bissell Little Green Machine has been a solid reliable cleaner that we've tested many times in the GH Cleaning Lab and is now all the rage on TikTok. The four-foot hose extends the reach of the machine and the 48-ounce tanks mean you don’t have to refill or empty them that often. Some portable cleaners can be cumbersome to disassemble and clean for storage: Not this Bissell.
We found the hydro-rinse tool very handy to help flush out the hose before storing it, ridding it of trapped gunk and debris which could start to smell after a while in storage. In addition, we love that the hose wraps around the base and snaps into the back and that the cord winds neatly up on the back, too. Note that the cleaning solution must be diluted before use and we did find it tricky to do so while holding the tank. This little machine earned "loud" marks from Quiet Mark.
Bissell - 8/9
7) ONEPWR Spotless GO Cordless Portable Carpet Cleaner
Hoover
chewy.com
$124.99
Cordless power plus its square shape and two-foot hose made this Hoover model easy use in the car and to set on a stair step in our tests. While the smaller tanks make it fairly lightweight and ideal for a quick cleanups, they do need refilling and emptying more frequently than models with larger tanks. Tea and red wine stains were no match for the Hoover in our tests and Quiet Mark rated it 2-stars or average for sound. The removable battery on the compact Hoover ONEPWR Spotless Go recharges in less than three and a half hours and works in other ONEPWR devices, so if you have the stick or hand vacuum, it will power them, too. We did find the 13-minute run time on this battery rather short compared to others in our test.
Hoover - 9/9
8) How we test portable carpet cleaners
When the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab evaluates portable carpet cleaning machines, we test how well they lift fresh and set-in food stains and other spills from light-colored medium pile carpets. We assess how easy they are to fill, empty and clean and how well they remove the odor of the ammonia we put down. We also measure their weight and assess how easy they are to maneuver and how comfortable they are to use. In our last category review of portable carpet cleaners, we conducted 38 different tests, and logged over 494 data points.
Understanding the impact of noise pollution in today's busy households, we sent the machines to be evaluated by Quiet Mark, an independent organization that evaluates products for the sound levels they produce. Appliances deemed “quiet” earned a 3-star or "good" rating, products with average sound levels earn 2 stars and those considered “loud” were given a 1-star rating.
Jodhaira Rodriguez/Good Housekeeping
